The Old Cracked Sidewalk
by Captain-Cheesecake
Summary: It has been so long since Sarah Jane Smith and her Doctor spent the day together. She missed him so. His smile. His laugh. He missed her too. But a lot has happened since he saw her last.


**I wrote this after one if my many times re-watching "School Reunion".  
The Doctor had told Sarah Jane briefly that "they're all dead now", but she didn't quite understand his meaning, for they were interrupted by Mickey's girlish screams.  
Set between the school exploding and Sarah entering the new TARDIS for the first time.  
Please review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own or make doctor who. I leave that to the professionals.**

* * *

Sarah Jane Smith walked down the old cracked sidewalk, The Doctor right beside her. His new friends, Rose and Mickey, had walked home to the TARDIS, giving them the rest of the day to themselves.  
It had been so long since they had spent the whole day together.  
He stood close by her side, his hands in the pockets of his brown pinstripe suit, kicking pebbles on the sidewalk with his trainers.

The Doctor.  
He was totally different, yet somehow impossibly the same.  
He pulled one hand out of his pockets and held hers, their fingers interlocking. Just like old times.  
He smiled at her, making her feel younger than she had in years.  
Oh, she missed him.  
Wiping leftover tears from her eyes, She smiled back.

"You haven't changed at all, Y'know?" she asked, looking up at him.

He scoffed. "Sometimes I feel like I've changed too much." He mumbled sheepishly.

Sarah Jane shook her head lightly. "I don't think so." She reassured him kindly.

It had been so long since he had seen her smile. Hundreds of years. He felt so old.  
A lot could change in over a hundred years.  
But she wasn't one of them.

The Doctor squeezed her hand.  
"I'm sorry. I am so sorry I left you here." He said sorrowfully. Sarah Jane could hear the lump in his throat.

She shook her head. "I just want to know _why_ you left? What did you mean by 'They're all dead'? Who?"

Sarah Jane saw a flicker of sadness in The Doctors eyes.  
He opened his mouth to speak, but ended up just closing it back. He tried his best not to think about it when he explained it.  
But she wasn't like Rose or Mickey, who hadn't known of his home until after the war. She had known of Gallifrey when it still existed. She had known of its people. She had known what it looked like. But she didn't know what had happened to it.  
He knew that if he tried to explain, He would only end up reliving his agony all over again.  
But she deserved to know. He owed her that much.  
He swallowed his pain, and cleared his throat.

"I was called to war. The last great time war. Against the Daleks. Sarah it was awful..." he said looking over at her, his face full of Misery, "Fire. Horror. Death. Left and right. Until nothing was left. It all burned. The Daleks. The Time Lords. Every last bit went up into ashes,"  
his eyes turned hard and hollow as his pain turned to anger,  
"Everyone died. My family. My friends. Even me, in the end."

They had stopped walking.  
Sarah Jane wiped the fresh tears from her eyes with her sleeve.  
So He HAD changed. Her happy, childlike, carefree Doctor had an entire world of guilt on his shoulders.

The Doctor shook his head.  
"Don't. Don't cry, please. Don't."

Sarah sniffed and hid her face, trying to pull herself together. The Doctor pulled her in to hold her, but his warm embrace wasn't enough to stop the tears from falling out of both of their eyes.

"I'm so old, Sarah..." He mumbled, "...You don't even realize HOW old. But I'm here. I'm still me." He reassured her.  
She nodded. She knew he was still the same. She just hated seeing her Doctor hurt.

"I know. I know it's you. You never change." she forced a laugh from her lips.

The Doctor pulled away and shook his head.  
"I never change? Look at you!" he gestured towards her, a strained smile on his face, "You've not changed one day, Sarah Jane Smith!" he chuckled.

Sarah Jane shook her head. "Are you kidding? Time has been kind to you! You don't look a day over 347! However I look like _I_ could be your mother!" she scoffed.

The Doctor laughed. "Well technically, _I_ would be old enough to be _your_ Great great great great great great-"

Sarah rolled her eyes.  
She hated when he did that.  
"No no! You stop now! I understand!"

"-Great great great great great-"

Sarah laughed.  
"Oh you never did listen, did you?"

"-Great great grandfather's great grandfather." He finished, grinning ear to ear.

Sarah Jane sighed. "Alright, I see your point."

The Doctor retook her hand and continued to walk along the sidewalk.  
Oh, how he missed her.  
She had always known how to make him laugh. And though seeing her cause old wounds to resurface, in a way she dulled the pain. She gave him hope to believe that not every choice he made, nor everything he did in the past was wrong.  
And thankfully, She had finally made good terms with Rose.  
That reminded him.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, why were you and Rose laughing at me earlier? In the school?" he asked, breaking the short silence that had come after they had started walking.  
Sarah Jane didn't answer; Instead, she giggled.

The Doctor sighed. "Is it really THAT funny? C'mon!"

Sarah Jane shook her head.  
"You really don't want to know!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes.  
"Alright! Fine! Have it your way...I will just ask Rose when I see her!" he said triumphantly.  
Sarah shook her head. He would never get one word out of that girl, and he knew it.  
He grinned.  
Oh, she had missed his smile. She missed his laugh. She missed all of this.  
And now that she knew why he left, she couldn't be angry at him.

"I forgive you." she said. "I forgive you for leaving me. I understand now. Just promise me something..."

The Doctor nodded.  
"Anything."

Sarah Jane smiled and wiped the rest of the tears from her eyes.  
"Promise you won't forget about me again."

The Doctor shook his head.  
"Sarah, I will never forget you. How could I? You're amazing, you are!" he kissed her hand, causing her to blush,  
"I would never dream of forgetting you, Sarah Jane."

Sarah Jane smiled, both relieved and flattered. The Doctor was the greatest man in the universe. She would never forget him even if she lived to be as old as he is.  
But to know that _he_ would be thinking about _her_…  
After thinking he was dead all this time...she was overwhelmed with happiness.

They began walking toward the park where, a dozen blocks away, the TARDIS was safely parked.  
Sarah knew this last day with her new Doctor was coming to an end.

"We did have good times though, didn't we?" she asked.

The Doctor nodded. "Oh, we had some great times, we did! D'You remember When you were stuck wearing Queen Elizabeth's dress?" he asked with a chuckle.

Sarah nodded, grinning. "How could I forget? Do you remember when K-9..."

Her voice drifted off when she realized what she had said.  
She had forgotten. The Doctor's return felt so much like an old dream, that she had forgotten it was real.  
And in some ways, reality was unfortunate; she would never see her K-9 again.

The Doctor noticed her pause and frowned.  
"I'm sorry..." he whispered, "But we'll be alright."

Sarah Jane nodded and smiled sheepishly. "Yes. I'm sure we will." She said.

She sighed. She knew he had to leave soon. But how could she ever let him go?  
The Doctor looked over at her, eyes wide and exited, but also a thousand years old. She noticed He had a strange look about his face; as if he was trying his best to hold back a smile.

"Y'know, after all this time, all we've done together, I only have one thing to say..."

He pulled his other hand out of his pocket and placed it in hers.

"...would you like a jelly baby?" he asked in a deep voice, smiling as he popped a candy in his mouth.

Sarah chuckled at the small candy in her hand. Just like old times.  
Their giggling came to an end as the TARDIS came in sight.  
The Doctor sighed.

Sarah turned and hugged him tightly, and he held her in return.  
They only had so much time left to themselves.  
Her New Doctor.  
He's been through so much since they last met. But he was here now. He was safe. Broken. But safe.

"You know Doctor, Sometimes I think you are too focused on the thing that you lose, that you forget to realize what you have. And you may find you have more than you think. Rose. Mickey. And you will always have me."

She looked into his new, chocolate brown eyes, a reassuring smile on her face.

The Doctor held her tighter, wishing it could last forever.  
"Oh, Sarah. Sarah Jane Smith! Thank you. From the bottom of my hearts, thank you."  
Her words were comforting. She did always know what to say to make him feel better.

He sighed and pulled away from her embrace. "I've got to go..." he whispered, scratching his ear.

Sarah's eyes widened. "You're not LEAVING leaving, are you?" She asked, suddenly alarmed.

The Doctor shook his head.  
"No! No no no! I promise not to leave you. I only need to get into the TARDIS and check on the rest of the crew," He said as he peeked over at the blue police box, frown on his face,  
"Well, that is if the TARDIS hasn't imploded yet. Y'see, Mickey's in my TARDIS, and he is...well...an idiot." he chuckled.

Sarah Jane nodded, relieved. "I will see you in an hour then. And you better be there this time!" she scolded him playfully.

He rolled his eyes. "I promise. This isn't goodbye." He turned to walk on down the street towards the park.

Sarah Jane looked down on the small jelly baby in her hand and smiled.  
He hadn't changed at all.  
And she could rest easy. He had promised he wouldn't leave.  
Not without a proper goodbye.

* * *

**In memory of Elizabeth Sladen.**

**Farewell, Mistress.**

**As fantastic as bananas, as brilliant as the stars. One amazing actress who stole both our hearts.  
Lovely was your spirit and your smile lit the room. As cool as bowties and custard, We will always remember you.**

**Goodbye, Our Sarah Jane smith.**


End file.
